//------------------------------// // 96 - Breaking Point // Story: Synch // by sunnypack //------------------------------// I dragged roughly into a cavern-like structure and deposited in front of a bemused brown stallion. His flank bore the mark of two loaves of bread, which I found very contrary to his warped expression of glee as he studied me. I would have said something but the kidnappers had decided to gag me. He trotted forward, giving me a wide grin. “Let’s talk about balloons. It stretches and warps. It expands and sometimes contracts. It contains a whole bunch of gas that does whatever it wants inside the confines of the balloon material. Guess what? If you pump all the gas out of the balloon, it collapses into a limp mass and with nothing to support it flops there unable to do anything and the once full and round balloon is left barren and lifeless, no longer the merriment and joviality it once represented. “In my life there’s such a balloon. Except, it’s not a balloon. It’s the universe. “When magic leaks out, the lifeblood of this universe is drained. Things that hold other things together become unstuck. Instead of deflating slowly like I had suggested earlier, the effect is closer to a rip in reality, a hole that steadily grows the more you interact with the rushing magic that blows itself out the void.” The stallion paused, waiting for the effect of his words to sink in. “Understandably, you will hold hate towards me…” I screamed through my gag but he only wore a frosty smile. “But I am a medic, the alicorn of death. I am here to cure this world of a problem, a disease-“ his mouth twisted in disgust “-to excise a cancerous growth.” I glared at him intensely, trying to bore my eyes into his. He chuckled. “It’s funny”, he continued, pacing in front of me, his hooves moving restlessly against the whipping wind that stirred in the cavern. “I was normal, once.” “I didn’t monologue in front of my prisoners, waiting for their sentence. I didn’t revel in the fruits of my labours as I conquered magic, death and beyond. I didn’t build a network of criminals and misfits and a broken guild to wrench from this world what it took from me!” The last words came out as a primeval roar. He paused, as if realising he snapped. He looked at me somewhat ironically. “Forgive me, null being. I was tad out of sorts here. Just a little. Not a lot. Not too much”, he muttered, resuming his pacing. He stopped after a few circuits, staring at me strangely. “I never revealed to you who I was, right?” I felt a shiver creep up my spine as the oak-brown stallion regarded me without emotion. “I am Maellorn Brown… Maellorn is the title given for the lead necromancer in their generation.” He sat on his haunches his eyes going distant. “I was once a baker, did you know? Brown Bread was my name. What? Is it not to your liking? Not ‘evil’ enough for you? I was a regular pony just getting by with my special talent, baking bread. Everything was fine until I met Lilac.” His smile grew wistful. “The perfect mare a stallion could hope for. Smart, funny, feisty and energetic. Everything I wasn’t when I met her.” His smile shrivelled. “She was gone in a blink, lost to an incurable disease a severe case of Equinorgla. She stayed alive for so long, fighting it with everything she had. It broke her… oh it broke her. She lasted not more than a week.” He turned a baleful eye to me, inspecting me like a scientist would an insect. “The world took her away from me too soon. It was a cruel joke. She died on the day we were to be married. The happiest day of my life ruined forever!” He ground the loose dirt and gravel beneath his hoof in an irritated manner, producing a squelching sound that grated on my ears. “I know what you’re thinking”, he growled, eyeing me intently. His tail flicked in agitation. “What makes my Lilac so special that she would be worth those lives? What makes my Lilac the one I save when so many others are doomed? What-“ He stopped himself and took a deep breath. “Understand this, null being. I did this for love. I sacrificed my innocence, my world, and my future so that she may live a few more days. I TOOK BACK EVERYTHING THAT WAS STOLEN FROM ME!” His head whipped around as a shadow fell upon the two of us. A griffon entered the cave, bowing respectively to Maellorn. She had golden feathers that gleamed softly in the moonlight, the colours playing unusually to her soft tan feathers that made up her chequered her chest. Maellorn looked mildly annoyed at the interruption, but kept his peace until the griffon finished reporting. “The hired help has been paid, sir.” Maellorn smiled thinly. “Excellent work as always, Ragnild.” The griffon nodded, giving me a passing glance and left as Maellorn turned to me. “Wondering why I’m giving you so many names of my compatriots? It’s simple, in a moment you will be gone. You will have no bearing, no consequence for this universe any longer. You will cease to be a sore sight here. I’m not heartless, I will send you to a habitable universe but I didn’t waste time looking for your own, wherever it may be…” I swallowed hard, things were culminating fast, I struggled against my bonds, itching to get out of this mess. Maellorn let loose a sharp barking laughter. “No use struggling, null being. It won’t be your time now. The circle and the preparations are yet to be completed. Hush, now”, he whispered the last words into my ear as I cringed away. “At the risk of sounding cliché”, he murmured, his cold voice making the hairs on the nape of my neck stand on end. “You will never escape from this.” His face drew close, locking gazes with me. “When you are gone I will have to extract enough souls to resurrect my dear Lilac again. She has suffered so much. I will have to keep a tighter watch on her. She had slipped out of my grasp before. She won’t again. When you are dealt with she can live here safely and I need not worry for the magic binding her soul being stolen away.” “I don’t have much against you personally, not really.” He cocked his head to the side as a lock of his mane fell across his eyes. “You just need to be removed.” A deep male voice called from within the cavern. “The preparations have been completed. The circle is ready.” Maellorn gave me a viscous grimace, revealing yellowed teeth. “I believe the words for this would be… hmm ”, he cackled, sauntering away. His taunting words echoed back as I watched him recede. “See you in Tartarus, ha, ha, ha!” I felt a powerful vice-like grip on my shoulders take me by surprise as I was painfully manhandled. My rising fear was fanned by the grasping darkness of the dank cave. Maellorn nonchalantly navigated the dark and soon I couldn’t see hide or hair of him as his tail swished into the deep caverns. I couldn’t twist my body to view the monstrosity that held me but I knew from the grip and the way it handled me I was but a doll in its iron grip. Was it all going to end here? A voice in my head screamed at me. He’s going to reactivate Synchrony! What are you doing all limp and impotent. Get up you spineless excuse for a human! I renewed my struggles but the grip just tightened until it hurt to breathe. I stopped and it relaxed, but only slightly. I frowned, feeling my heart skip a beat every stomp I felt that brough me closer to the circle. My dagger? Gone. My Synch? No use against something physical. Nullification? They would have guarded against it. Why can’t I think of anything? Why is this happening to me?! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I stopped struggling. My best chance would be to break out when they least expect it. A glow distracted my thoughts and I spied a complex network of glowing crystals suspended on apex points of a complex diagram inscribed with a language I couldn’t discern the meaning of. The pattern was alive with the pulse of an arcane heartbeat, the strange symbols somehow evoking a sense of dread and an inexplicable pull. “Fascinating isn’t it? You know the genius of Star Swirl’s spell? It was founded on magic that doesn’t just apply to magical beings but it appeals to fundamental constructs that we all know. Space, time – space-time. Life, death – senescence. Good, evil – balance. All these things make this construct so powerful. Powerful enough to move a null being without ever touching it with magic.” I felt a petrifying numbness engulf me where I stood as I watched the sigils burn themselves in my eyes. I couldn’t control my legs. I couldn’t control my arms. I was utterly powerless. I was placed gently in the centre of the circle, now that he moved back I could finally see the giant that carried me. It was my first time seeing a minotaur. This one had dark blue navy fur that coated his upper body, his eyes glowed a sickly yellow and his horns jutted proudly from his skull in wide-ranging arcs. His legs ended in cloved hoofs and he stared at me just as intently. Even if I could make a move, the minotaur looked like he could handle anything that I could throw at him. I would have sagged but my muscles held stiff. Maellorn gave me a condescending smirk. “Just a little extra precaution, you won’t be locked in that position for long…” I just wished I could close my eyes. The last thing I would be seeing was Maellorn’s triumphant face.